Protect Migratory Bird Habitat

Every day, Alaska Wilderness League defends public lands and waters in Alaska from attacks like these:

The Trump administration recently completed the first step in its process to hold its first lease sale in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and could be on the verge of greenlighting seismic exploration in the coastal plain, rushing forward with plans for destructive oil and gas drilling while disregarding the biological, cultural and climate impacts on a rapidly warming Arctic. This push is the result of Congress passing a controversial tax bill that allows drilling in the Arctic Refuge, sacred lands of the Gwich’in people and vital habitat for caribou, denning polar bears and millions of migratory birds.

The Tongass National Forest, America’s largest national forest, continues to be threatened by new congressional attempts to clear-cut rare and valuable old-growth trees. In the U.S. House of Representatives version of the 2018 farm bill, Rep. Don Young (R-AK) introduced an amendment that would exempt the Tongass from the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. The U.S. Forest Service has also started a planning process to kick-start the largest old-growth logging project in the U.S. in recent history, and is considering a state petition to exempt the national forests in Alaska from the federal roadless rule.

The Trump administration is pushing ahead with plans to allow drilling in the Arctic Ocean, looking to un-do the just-completed five-year plan for offshore leasing and kick-start the process of issuing new leases in Alaska’s Beaufort Sea – just off the coast of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Development in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska has begun, multiple drilling projects are on the horizon, and industry has shifted its focus to gaining access to protected Special Areas, including opening sensitive wildlife habitat surrounding Teshekpuk Lake.

Alaska Wilderness League leads the effort to preserve Alaska’s wild lands and waters by engaging citizens and decision makers with a courageous, constant, victorious voice for Alaska. Visit the website of our sister organization Alaska Wilderness Action to learn more about its legislative and political advocacy to protect Alaska’s wild places.